Your first album was produced by Jeremy Monteiro, how did that came about?
Jeremy first heard a recording of me while he was at a gig. It was during a break. It was my demo CD. Andrew Lim played with me on the recording and it was him that put the CD on. Jeremy was asking around about the music and thought it was a young Billie Holiday recording (laughs), but of course it wasn’t. And from there we got together and started performing. We started doing more gigs together, then Jeremy suggested recording and producing an album with me. I was more than happy to oblige, so we flew to LA and recorded.
Which jazz singers inspires you and why?
My oldest influence is Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and today I listen to Kurt Elling, Esperanza Spalding, Diane Reeves etc. I listen to many singers. I like Esperanza Spalding because she’s very contemporary and has a fresh & unique style, she does a lot of original music, she’s multi-talented and a joy to watch when she performs.
What is your proudest moment?
One of it would have to be when I performed at Dewan Filharmonik Petronas with Jeremy Monteiro and Michael Veerapan. It was a piano duet. That was, I think, a very nice concert to be in. Just singing with two pianos in such a beautiful hall.
How different or similar is ‘Contentment’ compared to your debut album?
The debut album is mainly standards and straight-ahead jazz. It had a beautiful, lush jazz band. This new one has two standards, and the rest are original songs. It’s different. Very modern, contemporary styled jazz. It’s a bit more of a creative change.
What ice cream flavor describes you and why?
Chocolate la! Haha! Everybody likes chocolate, I like chocolate and I look a bit chocolate. (continues laughing)
Why NBT?
Why NBT? NB… It’s a No Brainer.. haha.. sorry. It’s an awesome jazz club. I think it holds itself true to the meaning of a “jazz club”. It’s a wonderful club with the greatest ambiance, setting, acoustics and the people who come respect the music. I feel they are true audiophiles. They come to listen and they want to be entertained. They don’t view the music as a secondary thing. Music is the primary reason why they come to NBT. I like performing here. Every note is really heard and appreciated.